The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1887-04-10
BEECHER's WISDOM.
Suggestions to Parents ON the
Training Of Children.


their children, but there are thousand
and thousands of parents in our grea
cities who think, who know that theil
children never lie," and yet theil
tongue is like Bonded bow. They
think their children neTer drink; but
there is not a fashionable saloon within
a mile of their homes that the boys are
not familiar with. They think their
children never know unvirtuous things;
and yet they reek with unvirtue. There
are many young men who, when they
/ return to their fathers houses, are sup
posed to have been making visits to
this or that person. 1t is mere gu1se.
| TDe practice OF allowing children to
go out at night to find their own places
of amusement may leave one in twenty
unsca he'd and without danger: but I
think that nineteen out of twenty fall
down wounded and destroyed. And if
there is one thing til at should be more
imperative than another, it is that your
children shall be at home at night, or
that, If they are abroad, you shall be
abrosd with them. There may be things
that 1t Is best you should do for your
children, though you would not do them
for yourselves; but they ought not TO
go anywhere at night, to See sights, or
take pleasure, unless you can go with
them, until they are grown to mans
es ate, and their habits are formed. And
nothing is more certain than that to
grant the child the liberty TO go outside
the partenal roof and its restraints in the
darkness of night is bad, and only bad
and that continually.
Do not suppose that child is hurt
only when he is broken down. / have
quite a taste in china cups and such
things. | like a beautiful cup, and 1
have noticed that when the handle gets
knocked Oft from cup of mine that
cup is spoiled tor me. When | look at
it afterwards never see the beauty, but
always see the broken handle.
If have beautiful mirror and it is
cracked, it may still answer all the pur-
poses that want a mirror for, to reveal
my beauty, but nevertheless it is spoiled
for my eye. There is that crack, and
when look into the glass, l never see
myself half so much as see the crack.
Its perfection is gone. In the matter
of beauty, a speck or blemish is more
than all besides, and takes away the
pleasure of all besides. And it does not
require that. child should be broken
down to be made useless by his expo
sures to temptation. / aver that there
are many things which no man can
learn without being damaged by them
all his life long. There are many
thoughts which ought never to find a
passage through mans brain. AS an
eel. if he were to wriggle across your
carpet, would leave slime which no
brush could take off, so there are many
things which no person can know and
ever recover from the knowledge of.
There are the minions of Satan thatgo
around with hidden pictures and books
under the lapels of their coats. showing
them to the young, with glazing, lust
full, hideous, internal scenes represented
which nee to have seen is to remember.
l can say these things, when some
others could not, because l am known,
and want to be known as friend of
pleasure. rebuke the yonng who
would turn monks. | do not believe in
solitude. | do not believe an melan-
choly. And / believe the closer man
keeps to the laws of nature the happier
he will be and ought to be. Therefore,
being or the side of liberty, though not
on the side of license-being on the side
of wholesome, manly pleasures, and
freedom in the indulgence of then-T
have authority to say, when you pervert
nature in this way it is utterly wicked
and utterly abominable.
There is another application which
although partial, is Of greatlange and of
supreme importance, addressing itself
to doctors, to guardians, and to parents,
chiefly, | refer to the practice OF allow
ing children to find their companions at
night, and their pleasures at night,away
from parental inspection. If l wanted
to make the destruction of child sure,
l would give him unmatched liberty
after dark. You cannot do thing that
will be so nearly guarantee OF child S
damnation SIS to let him have the liberty
of the streets al night.
/ do not believe in bringing up the
young to no life, as it is said. Il
should lust as soon think OF bringing up
a child By cutting some of the cords OF
his body and lacerating his nerves and
soaring and tattooing him and making
an Indian out of him outright as an
element of beauty, as l should think OF
developing his manhood by bringing
him up to see Efe-to see its abonInable
lusts, to see its .hideous incarnations OF
wit, TO see its. internal wickedness, to
seeits extravagant and degrading scenes,
to see its miserable carnalities, to see Its
imaginations set on fire of hell, to see all
these temptations and decisions which
lead to perdition. Nobody gets over the
sight of these things. They who see
them always carry scars. They are
burned. And though they live, they
1--WE as men that have been burned. The
scar remains. And 70 let the young go
cut where the glazing courtesan
appears, to let them go where the lust
full frequenter of dens of inlqulty can
come within their reach. to let them go
where the young gather together 10
cheer with bad viii, to let them go Where
they will be exposed to such tempta,,
tions-Why, q parent is insane that VIII
do it. To say child must be haro-
ened, he has got to get tough somehow
and you NAV as we'll pnt him n the vat
and let him tan"-is that family educa-
ton? Is that Christian nurture? Is that
bringing q child 40 in the nurture ana
edmonition OF the Lordf-New YORK
World.
0rEau Rusiuass RoSicek